Killmonger is probably the best villain in the MCU films so far (Kilgrave is #1 if you add in the TV shows), only other villain that compares from the movies is probably Loki. Obviously his methods are wrong, but you know at least to an extent he's right idealogically. He just took it to the extreme.

The way the movie plays with the ideas Wakanda's isolationism and traditionalism vs. modernism is very interesting. It makes the movie about something other than a superhero who has to stop a bad guy from doing a bad thing. There's legitimate conflict other than "Black Panther is good and Killmonger is bad." I don't think a Marvel movie has done this well with the themes beyond the superhero plot since Winter Soldier (Though I do like how Guardians Vol. 2 tackled the ideas of both growing up and family).

The big issue that prevents it from being my No. 1 Marvel movie with a bullet (it's definitely up there, not sure it's as good as the aforementioned Winter Soldier is that the escalation of the conflict felt rushed. Lines were drawn so early into Killmonger's reign that everything felt it was happening way too quickly when they started fighting. Like it makes sense that W'Kabi would side with Killmonger but he basically bought into everything right away? That was my main gripe.

Which, I get it. The studio wants the big action setpiece, you can't make the movie longer, and you don't want to cut out all the (excellent) world building early on in the movie. Still, it sticks out.

This is maybe the best-cast Marvel movie yet, which is saying quite a lot. Michael B. Jordan is getting most of the hype here which makes sense, because he's really excellent in everything he's ever in. Chadwick Boseman is also great as a cool, collected character. Letitia Wright was the biggest standout for me. She's really good. I spent the entire movie trying to figure out what I've seen her in until I finally googled her during the credits (She's in the "Black Museum" episode of Black Mirror and she's great in that too). It's nice to see Danai Gurira on the big screen. I like her a lot but don't want to have to watch trash-ass Walking Dead to see her. Winston Duke is another standout, since he's been in so little before this and proceeded to do a great job as f***ing MAN-APE.

Ludwig Goransson's score is pretty damn incredible. He did great work in Creed and I hope he gets some awards hype for this, because it's awesome. Kendrick Lamar's soundtrack for this is really good too and I was hoping it could get used more in the context of the film, but that's a hard balance to find especially when you've got a killer score. But I definitely recommend checking it out. Kendrick did a great job curating it and working with known commodities, rising American artists and working with African artists as well.

This has to cement Coogler as one of the best blockbuster filmmakers working since this and Creed are just phenomenal (I will say that I thought he showed more flair with the camera in Creed, though this movie does have some really pretty-looking scenes as well). I do hope he doesn't go completely into blockbuster territory though and mixes it up with more subdued films like Fruitvale Station as well

...Ragnarok. Both deal with heirs to a throne temporarily depowered, defeated, & usurped by unknown relations who are expert killers & who call out the kingdoms on their problematic pasts & the heroes' late fathers on their deceits, each protagonist helped in the end by a really big guy who they'd fought with earlier, a spy, a warrior woman, & a funny outsider. Each hero has a powerful enemy with greedy designs on their home who is dispatched far earlier in the film than expected.

The domestic release now matches the international release, a move likely done to combat spoilers & piracy. It also gives more breathing room to Deadpool 2 (May 18th) and Solo (May 25th), so there's a bit of corporate synergy in play as well.
Hopefully this won't mess up Agents of SHIELD's synchronicity.

On the Marvel front, Disney moved up an untitled film to July 31, 2020 (from a previous date of Aug. 7, 2020) and carved out dates for six other untitled Marvel movies: May 7, 2021; July 30, 2021; Nov. 5, 2021; Feb. 18, 2022; May 6, 2022; and July 29, 2022.

I wanna see a Brotherhood of Evil Mutants movie. When is that due? Sometime after the 'Dazzler, Iron Fist and Luke Cage' flick, one presumes?

...man. I love Magneto. I mean, he actually has a pretty good reason for being bad, unlike stupid Anakin and crummy Elsa and all, and yet he still puts 'evil' in his team name. It's bizarre. Why. Like who does he think he is, Skeletor or something? Is it an in-joke? Is it meta? Is the Brotherhood at all affiliated with the Guild of Calamitous Intent? How about the Evil Council from 'Kung Pow'? Do they ever have to have conference calls with Bad Horse? I wanna know.

New news: We have a teaser (clicky) & date (June 22) for season 2 of Luke Cage!
This means Marvel is double-dipping in June this year (alongside Cloak & Dagger), & season 3 of Daredevil could happen anytime this fall.

--Agents of SHIELD returns tomorrow to kick off the back half of season 5.

Does anyone really still care about this show?

"We have a small but active fanbase." ~Melinda May

Jessica Jones season 2 drops at midnight tonight.
More SHIELD Friday, whether Scotty watches or not. Dove Cameron is playing a creepy teenage black-ops assassin, if that matters to anyone.
Only 7 weeks until Infinity War.

^It was kinda inconsistent. But then, the "Purple" arc of Alias is THE definitive Jessica Jones story, so that was gonna be a tough act to follow no matter what, especially with Jessica very conclusively NOT carrying Luke's child.

We have our first news on New Warriors in several months!
Fabian Nicieza--who wrote 53 issues of New Warriors, including its most successful arc--spoke in an interviewp about being a consultant on the show & about its "docu-comedy" format. (Nicieza, of course, is best known as the man who gave Deadpool a personality.) The resurfacing of this interview, along with recent social media posts by cast members Milana Vayntrub & Matthew Moy, (a) shows that the cast is still together, & (b) hints at the potential for MORE news soon, like maybe a new network & premiere date?
[Edit: On 3/23, Vayntrub appeared on "Fatman on Batman", speaking briefly about New Warriors very much in a this-is-still-gonna-happen manner.]

Meanwhile, Jude Law has just arrived on set for Captain Marvel:
Note that Law is also wearing black & green, further bolstering that those are Kree colors.

Speaking of trailers, this new one for Cloak & Dagger is pretty nifty:

Not too keen on the "one will live, one will die" thing, though; the two of them being partners who need each other is one of the primary themes of their comic.

I remember reading comics in the 90's and they guest-starred in a Spidey comic and Cloak and Dagger came off as the lamest duo I'd ever seen in a comic. So, of course, 20 years later, they have a show. I'm still stunned that perennial 90's comic book losers like Power Man and Iron Fist somehow got shows as well. Kinda shows that the actual hero used is mostly irrelevant.

Thanks to Batman's dominance in film & television and Superman's "death" in the comicbooks, Marvel Comics as a whole was a loser in the 90s; that's why they had to sell off film rights to their biggest characters, to avoid bankruptcy (which in turn is why it took so long for Spider-Man to join the MCU, as well as why the X-Men & Fantastic Four still aren't in it yet).

But Power Man & Iron Fist were products of the early 70s, and Cloak & Dagger the early 80s. Each had its own cult following for various reasons, and Marvel TV decided to reward those cult followings (granted, that didn't work out too well for Iron Fist, but still). They're all very interesting characters, anyway; it's not like they gave a show to freaking Asbestos Lady or something.

I'm glad you asked.
Well, there hasn't been much new news on the MCU lately*, so I thought I'd highlight Wade Wilson breaking the wall I thought he wasn't allowed to break: The IP licensing wall.
The Disney-Fox buyout has not been approved yet, so legally nobody in the Disney umbrella can start making plans with Fox's properties yet. But apparently that doesn't extend to stopping D-Piddy from knowing that Infinity War co-stars his new friend Cable (nor does it stop him from taking a blatant stab at the other competition). Watch the trailer.

*except that Infinity War is pre-selling more tickets than the past 7 MCU films combined

By the way, last night's AoS had one of the most disturbing deaths I've ever seen on television. I literally felt sick afterwards. Then a Disney-Channel-mass-production-line starlet got her throat slit, so that made things a little better. Next week's episode is expected to reach a series-low for ratings, because INFINITY WAR OPENS THAT DAY. (I actually got tickets for a Saturday matinee. It's cheaper & less fanatical.)

Upcoming dates:
April 27 - Avengers: Infinity War
May 11 or 18 (depending on if they air the last 2 together like usual) - Agents of SHIELD season 5 finale (possibly series finale)
June 7 - Cloak & Dagger series premiere
June 22 - Luke Cage season 2
July 6 - Ant-Man & the Wasp